Paris
The new face-to-face confrontation between PlayStation 5 (Sony) and Xbox Series X (Microsoft) begins on November 10th with well-studied strategies in terms of prices, technical characteristics and exclusive game catalog.
With its new console and suite of related services, Microsoft is hoping to get revenge on Sony, which has sold twice as many PlayStation 4s as Xbox One since it was launched in 2013.
See the comparison between the two consoles “Version 2020”:
DATE: MICROSOFT WILL START FIRST
Microsoft, which was the first company to introduce its console, will also be the first company to offer the Xbox Series X for sale on November 10th. Advance sales began on September 22nd.
The two versions of the Sony PS5, announced ten days later, will go on sale on November 12 in Australia, North America, New Zealand, South Korea, Japan and Mexico. In the rest of the world they will be available on November 19th.
Orders point to a record start. Sony plans to sell 7.6 million consoles by the end of March in an effort to improve its PS4 results.
PRICE: “PREMIUM” AND “DIGITAL” VERSION
Two versions to suit all budgets and new uses: Sony will propose a “Premium” model priced at $ 585 (R $ 4,999), while a “digital” edition for online games retails for $ 468 (R) becomes 4,499 USD).
Microsoft is making a similar bet on a “Premium” version at the same price as its Japanese competitor, but is more aggressive in its “Mini” version, priced at $ 350 (R $ 2,999). In Brazil, the company announced a small price cut. The Xbox Series X sells for R $ 4,599 and the Xbox Series S for R $ 2,799.
“Sony, with its simplest console, is allowing itself a price higher than Microsoft. It is the market leader that can afford it,” said Laurent Michaud, an analyst specializing in the video game industry. “It would have been interesting for Microsoft to push the pricing strategy down a bit,” he added.
DESIGN: FUTURISTIC OR SOBER?
When it comes to design, the manufacturers have chosen two different approaches.
Sony’s PS5 is tall and thin, V-shaped and white on black with a subtle blue flash that gives it a futuristic look that wouldn’t be out of place in a Star Wars setting.
The same applies to its control, which has also changed its historical appearance.
The Xbox got more sober and classic with a black turret, a very discreet logo and faithful controls over the previous generation.
FEATURES: MOST POWERFUL XBOX
“The fastest, most powerful Xbox ever made”. On its website, the American brand does not deprive itself of proclaiming the technical characteristics of its future console in letters and numbers. With a 12 teraflops graphics processor compared to 10.3 for the PS5, the X series offers superior computational capabilities than its competitors.
Although in other areas, particularly in terms of memory and storage capacity, the two consoles are similar.
“Is the processor’s performance at stake?” Asks Laurent Michaud. “The larger the player base, the less the performance counts. Children don’t take this into account when playing Fortnite. They value the gaming experience.”
GAMES: SONY PROMISES AN UNMATCHED CATALOG
Sony has been keen to unveil a selection of titles to mark the launch of the PS5, including the action game Spider Man: Miles Morales. Fans will have to wait a while for “Final Fantasy XVI”, which will only be available for the PS5.
Microsoft was hoping “Halo Infinite” would help catapult the Xbox Series X launch, but the coronavirus pandemic has delayed sales until 2021.
In terms of compatibility, only PS4 games will work on PS5, while all games released for Xbox since the brand’s first console are compatible with the new console.
AFP